before dumbass gourmet: white bean chicken chili

(Editor’s note: This entry came before Dumbass Gourmet as we know it, but was definitely a sign of things to come.)

People, I am ridiculously proud of myself today. Why? Because this is what I made for dinner:

If you think it looks like barf in a bowl, stop reading. But if you’re intrigued, here’s the skinny on this white bean chicken chili: I got the recipe from Half-Assed Kitchen, a new-ish addition to my bookmarked blogs, and tweaked it a little to our (OK, my) tastes. No cilantro or green salsa, but plenty of fresh garlic and onions (my father will be so impressed). Instead of chopping up green peppers I threw in a can of Mexicorn, which has corn and red and green peppers, and I added a little more broth than Angie recommends. The chicken came from a leftover breast cooked in the Foreman grill and from the remains of a Kroger roasted chicken we had for dinner Friday night because I was too tired to think about cooking. I let it sit in the CrockPot for about three hours, then topped it with sour cream and avocado and served it with tortilla chips.

It was amazing. In fact, I’ve made multiple trips this evening to the CrockPot, where the leftovers are cooling before being Tupperwared, to spoon up some more of it. It seems like a pretty forgiving recipe — just chuck in whatever you feel like and it’ll all work out. An unexpected bonus is that there’s half an avocado left over, so we can make guacamole sometime this week!

I’m looking at this as my next endeavor, if only so I can stomp around the kitchen hollering, “WHERE’S THE BLOODY RISOTTO?” like Gordon Ramsay on “Hell’s Kitchen.” Good times, good times.